osha

Next time you’re at work, do a quick check of your surroundings and see if you spot any of these safety violations.

If you talk to an experienced St. Louis workers compensation attorney, they will tell you that they have seen just about every injury under the sun. However, some injuries are significantly more prevalent than others. The reason for this is that many unsafe workplaces tend to have the same issues as each other. To safeguard against this, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) conducts random checks on employers to see if they are following safety guidelines. When they are not, the employer is given a violation. Below, we have listed the top 10 violations from 2017.

Fall Protection – General Requirements

Slip and fall injuries are one of the most common workplace injuries, so it is no surprise that not meeting all protection requirements is a top violation.

Hazard Communication

This violation describes the improper labeling of hazardous materials. If companies do not label thoroughly and correctly, they leave their employees at risk.

Scaffolding

Preventing injuries that take place on scaffolding is especially important because of their height. Slipping and falling while on the ground can be very damaging on its own, and when scaffolding is involved, its severity rises significantly.

Respiratory Protection

A common way workers develop long and short term diseases is through inhalation of harmful substances. Because of this, employers are expected to provide protective gear.

Lockout/Tagout

Lockout/tagout refers to the proper handling of what OSHA calls “hazardous energy.” What it describes is stored energy in machines or equipment. Hazardous energy can be quickly released and have dire consequences.

Ladders

Ladder usage is an area that flies under the radar because it is so common inside and outside the workplace. Because of this, companies often do not have safe ladder use practices.

Powered Industrial Trucks

This category encompasses the practices surrounding vehicles like tractors, hand trucks, and fork trucks. Violations and work injuries can come from maintenance, lack of fire protection, and usage habits.

Machine Guarding

A typical work injury is one where a worker gets their hand caught in a dangerous piece of machinery. One way to prevent this is through responsible machine guarding structures, which cover up dangerous moving parts and keep employees safe.

Fall Protection – Training Requirements

Another aspect of fall protection is employee training. If employees are not trained, it can lead to injury and violations.

Electrical – Wiring Methods

Electricity is an incredibly powerful force. If it is not used correctly, the result can be lethal. OSHA protects against this by assessing wiring methods.

The world of workplace injuries is a scary one, but when you educate yourself on the subject, you become much safer. Next time you’re at work, do a quick check of your surroundings and see if it violates any of these 10. If it does, you can talk to your employer about adjusting your workplace conditions. That will make everyone happy, as employees are safer and employers are less likely to pay benefits to an injured worker. If you do get hurt, you can always talk to a St. Louis work injury attorney about your legal options moving forward.

OSHA’s new recordkeeping rules are intended to improve the ability to track workplace injuries and illnesses.

As we discussed in one of our previous posts, OSHA is all set to revise its requirements for recording and submitting records of workplace injuries and illnesses. This new rule that goes into effect on January 1, 2017 and will require some of this information to be submitted to OSHA electronically for posting to their website. What will these changes mean for employers?

What are the Changes?

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has, in a bid to ensure regular reporting of injuries and illnesses by employers, plugged a number of loopholes ensuring that employers have a standardized way of providing accurate and timely information to the federal body. The following are the changes that will be effective January 1, 2017:

All companies with 250 or more employees that are currently needed to maintain records of workplace related illnesses and injury should submit these records, i.e., forms from OSHA 300, 300A and 301, electronically.

For companies that employ between 20 and 249 employees and fall under the gamut of industries categorized as highly hazardous – namely construction, manufacturing, retail, utilities, transportation etc. – should submit records related to injuries and illnesses by way of OSHA form 300A electronically.

Those companies (with an employee strength between 20 and 249) are required to submit only annual OSHA form 300A, last date for this is 1st July 2017.

Companies with strength of 250 or more employees need to submit their annual form 300, 300A and 301 by 1st July 2018.

From 2019, the deadline for submission of these forms changes from July 1st to March 2nd.

What Has Brought About these Changes?

These changes, as mentioned earlier, have been drafted with a view to standardize submission procedures. Apart from this, it also aims at promoting workplace safety while keeping employers, the public as well as the government bodies, aware about the workplace hazards that could otherwise go unnoticed.

These standardized rules will encourage employers to be more watchful of workplace injuries and illnesses and tighten safety parameters to ensure that there are fewer safety hazards at the workplace. These changes will also aim at making employers proactive about possible workplace hazards and enable them to take preventive measures.

Public display of the data will push employers to get more serious about workplace hazards and use preventive measures in a bid to attract more workforce by advertising that they are an employee-safety conscious organization.

The fear of public display of reports will also prompt employers to work harder towards maintaining their image in the industry, and they will take necessary preventive and proactive measures.

Procedures for reporting injuries and illnesses should not deter employees from reporting.

Employers cannot retaliate against any employee reporting an injury or illness.

These changes in rules of recording and submission of data will hopefully bring about the necessary changes in employers attitudes towards reporting of illness and injuries and help make workplaces safer.

Contact a Work Injury Attorney in St. Louis

If you have suffered an injury at the workplace, you may be entitled to workers compensation benefits. If you are unable to get the benefits that you deserve, contact an experienced St. Louis worker compensation lawyer at the Law Office of James M. Hoffmann by calling (314) 361-4300 or by filling out our online contact form.

A worker may decide not to report any unsafe work practices in their workplace for fear of negative consequences.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is a federal organization responsible for ensuring safe and healthy working conditions by setting and enforcing workplace safety regulations. OSHA provides the necessary training and resources to help employees learn safe working practices and report any safety violations. OSHA also holds seminars and conducts onsite inspections to raise awareness about workplace safety. The organization employs more than 550 state consultants and around 2,400 federal inspectors, including engineers, educators, complaint discrimination investigators, physicians, and technicians.

Filing a Complaint with OSHA

A worker may decide not to report any unsafe work practices in their workplace for fear of revenge, being disliked by coworkers, or any other negative consequence. However, continuing work in an unsafe workplace will only increase accident risks. Some workers do not know how to report an OSHA violation, while others are concerned that their employer might know who made the complaint. Many workers do not know that OSHA accepts anonymous complaints in order to protect an employee’s privacy. If you want to file an OSHA complaint, take the following steps.

Inform your employer about the unsafe condition – Inform your employer before reporting to OSHA. Maybe your employer is unaware of the unsafe work condition that came to your notice. Employers usually want to avoid the consequences of a complaint to OSHA. Chances are that your employer will address the issue as soon as possible after you report to them. OSHA aims to help employers maintain a safe workplace. However, they also take strict actions against negligent employers. Failure to comply with OSHA regulations may invite heavy fines and penalties and may even result in cancellation of the trade license for a temporary period.

File an OSHA complaint – If your employer does not take actions to fix the problem, file an OSHA complaint. You can start the process by contacting your state’s regional OSHA office. The official OSHA website provides detailed information about this. Fill out a complaint form, explaining your complaint in detail. Provide any other information that might be helpful in recognizing the problem. OSHA accepts anonymous complaints to safeguard your confidentiality.

The OSHA Investigation

After you file a complaint, OSHA will starts an investigation on the basis of your complaint. OSHA usually does not provide any update on their investigation until the case is closed. The organization assigns a dedicated investigator for each case. They usually start the investigation by talking to your employer about the alleged unsafe work conditions. In some cases, OSHA chooses not to reveal the identity of the worker who made the complaint. An employer needs to respond to OSHA within five days. In the next step, OSHA sends you a copy the employer’s response.

OSHA and Workers’ Compensation

OSHA takes action against all negligent employers, but the organization does not reward an employee for reporting an unsafe work condition. If you suffer a workplace injury, you can file a workers’ compensation claim. Typically, workers’ compensation benefits pay for medical bills, out-of-pocket expenses, and a portion of lost earnings. A Missouri work injury lawyer can help you protect your legal rights. If you have been injured in a work-related accident, call The Law Office of James M. Hoffmann at (314) 361-4300.

All employers in the United States are required to comply with OSHA guidelines for workplace safety. Any violations can result in fines and penalties.

Formed under the Occupational Safety and Health Act in 1970, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) is a federal organization that operates under the Department of Labor to ensure safe and healthy work environments. Since its formation, OSHA has helped decrease work-related injuries and illnesses by around 67 percent by enforcing standards and providing workplace safety training. All employers in the United States are required to comply with OSHA guidelines for workplace safety.

Fall Protection

Construction employers have a responsibility to ensure proper fall protection for their employees. For example, employers are required to ensure there are proper guardrail systems, canopy structures, and leading edges in the workplace.

Hazard Communication Standards

Employers should categorize and label all containers of hazardous chemicals properly. Each container of hazardous chemical must have a proper label on it, and a safety data sheet should be kept on file.

Scaffolding Standards

Around 2.3 million construction workers use scaffolds on the job site. Working on scaffolds is risky and dangerous. Injuries from scaffolding accidents are common at construction sites. In an attempt to reduce the risk of scaffolding accidents, strict safety guidelines for employers have been implemented.

Respiratory Protection

Employers from certain industries are required to protect their employees from respiratory hazards. OSHA respiration protection standards are violated when an employer fails to:

provide necessary equipment

follow cleaning and inspection protocols

provide proper training

Powered Industrial Trucks

Clear guidelines are provided to employers on how to deal with safety requirements pertaining to fire protection, design, maintenance, and use of tractors, fork trucks, motorized hand trucks, platform lift trucks, and other specialized trucks powered by internal combustion engines or electric motors.

Control of Hazardous Energy

Employers are required to regularly maintain and service machines and factory tools following specific guidelines. These safety guidelines are designed to prevent a sudden release of stored energy, which often result in serious workplace injuries. These guidelines are violated when employers do not use tags, self-locking fasteners, or wedges to block a machine from an energy source.

Standards for Ladders

If you have suffered a work-related injury due to OSHA violations at your workplace, get in touch with our Missouri workers’ compensation attorney. Call The Law Office of James M. Hoffmann at (314) 361-4300.